Their MAGA level is over 9000!!
Although Japanese idols are known for many things one thing they are not known for is their opinions on international politics. However, this past April the idol group Kamen Joshi (Masked Girls) released a video that seemed to be doing just that.
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| Can’t stump the Trump-sama! |
On April 9th of this year the marked idol group released a video that confused
many people. The video, called “KAMEN JOSHI :IDOL MAGIC FOR TRUMP M-A-G-A!,” featured the girls appearing to endorse the then Republican candidate for president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. In the video the 7 girls, known as Trump Kamen, can be heard saying “We want to help make America great again. Please take our high energy!” before entering into a musical performance of one of their songs. The video also features a rather strange collection of Donald Trump quotes and random messages scrolling across the bottom of the screen. One of the most random of these is “Power level is over 9000!” which seems to be a reference to the classic “It’s over 9000!” meme from some years ago.
Of course, as is common with these sorts of things, people quickly moved on and began to forget about this strange group of masked Japanese girls that seemed to love Donald Trump. However, since the election of Donald Trump in November there have been a few interesting developments in this story.
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| I think I see the wall! |
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| We want to go to the US! |
In one article written after the presidential election one of the members of Trump Kamen seemed to express some concerns about what Donald Trump’s victory could affect Japan. Anna Tachibana, was quoted by modelpress as saying “He’s gained attention for his provocative statements and I think people have both positive and negative views about that but he said he would stop making reckless remarks so I’m very curious about how his style will change. Above all else I pray that the election of President Trump results in good things for Japan.”
While this sort of statement seems like a far cry from the incredibly enthusiastic attitude Trump Kamen seemed to have about Donald Trump back in April, this kind of careful statement is really not all that surprising when you consider that the group has made it quite clear that they never supported Donald Trump. They simply made the video because they saw how popular he was and wanted to see if some of that popularity rubbed off on them.
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| Ready to rumble |
Earlier this month, on December 12th, Trump Kamen held their first ever live performance in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. The group wore T-shirts with “Trump” written on them and performed 3 songs, including “GENKIDANE☆,” which is the song used in their April video.
Of course, the media showed up to cover this event and also managed to talk to some of the Trump Kamen members. While talking about the future of the group and the possibility of more live performances one of the members, Yuki Sakura, managed to get some laughs with some rather frank comments. Sankei News quoted her as saying “If there’s demand. I want to keep doing Trump Kamen but…today is probably the first and last time” Meanwhile, Sanspo quoted her as saying “The future of this group depends on Mr. Trump’s approval ratings.
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| Are they human or machines? |
While it seems that Trump Kamen is dead for now, it certainly is not out of the question that they might make a comeback in 2020 but. it’s all up to President Trump now. For more Kamen Joshi content you can visit their YouTube channel here or you can watch the video below which somehow manages to explain a lot about the group’s background, while at the same time leaving you very confused. The video is completely in English.
Sources: Asagei Plus, modelpress, Sankei News, Sanspo
